The Lithuanian defense minister resigned after a dispute with the prime minister over military spending
Sakalian proofs. Credit: Cliff Owen/AP/Profimedia
Dovile Sakaliene resigned as defense minister in Lithuania on Wednesday, after a dispute with Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene over defense spending in the Baltic country, according to AFP.
Sakaliene announced in a Facebook post that she and Ruginiene, who is also from Lithuania's Social Democratic Party (LSDP), have “fundamentally different ideas on how to strengthen the defense”.
The prime minister described the minister's resignation as “inevitable”, as he cannot accept that “misunderstandings and problems should arise in such an important area as defence”.
Lithuania, which borders Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, has been building up its military in the wake of Russia's February 2022 war against Ukraine, fearing it could be Moscow's next target.
The row between the prime minister and the defense minister began after they took part in a meeting with defense analysts last week, after which some of the participants said they no longer expected the government to keep its promise to spend 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product on defense.
On October 15, Rugiene announced that the draft state budget for 2026 foresees an allocation of 4.8 billion euros for defense, representing 5.4% of GDP.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister expressed his determination to push to ensure the defense budget “keeps growing”.
In addition, Rugiene accused Sakaliene of showing a “total lack of will” to cooperate.
Lithuania is governed by a coalition of parties, mainly the LSDP and the populist Zorii lui Nemunas formation.
At the June summit in The Hague, NATO set a new target for defense spending by its 32 member states, which pledged to raise it to 5 percent of GDP by 2035.
In 2024, more than a quarter of the Alliance's countries were spending below the previous target of 2% of GDP, according to NATO's latest estimates.
